Longer boil time, will my beer end up too bitter?

WeirdPete · 01-26-2012, 06:54 PM

Last night I brewed a Cali Common that got .75 oz NB for 60 min, 1.5oz for 15 min, and 1 oz at flameout. Unfortunately I overestimated my boil off (or maybe had the boil too low) so I ended up removing the hop bags and boiling for at least another 30-45 minutes until the wort was down to about 5 gallons. In the end I hit my 1.056 OG and 5 gal volume almost perfectly, but I'm worried that my beer will be way too bitter due to the longer boil.

Using an IBU calculator I'm guessing that I've increased the bitterness to somewhere between 70-100 IBU, compared to the 40 IBUs I was shooting for. Sound about right? I'm sure it'll still be drinkable, but damn it would suck if it turned out way to bitter.

**dbrewski** · 01-26-2012, 06:59 PM

I think the ability of wort to absorb more alpha acids decline a great deal over 60 minutes. You've already absorbed most of what you're going to by that time. So I'm guessing you did not ruin it. You can read more about it here.

this is the part I was referring to:

Quote:

One question that appears on occasion is whether you lose bitterness if you boil the hops for too long, e.g. longer than two hours. According to Glenn Tinseth, multiple studies have shown that alpha acid utilization always increases with boil time, even out to 3 hours of boiling. The reason the tables quit around 60 minutes of boiling, is that little utilization is gained beyond that. In fact, after about 45 minutes the curve becomes quite flat. In other words, beyond that the utilization increase is small compared to the added time involved. It is speculated that commercial brewers found that beyond 45-60 minutes or so, the benefit of the added utilization was more than offset by the cost of the energy to continue the boil as well as the cost of the added time in the process.

WeirdPete · 01-26-2012, 07:12 PM

Okay thanks! According to what you quoted it sounds like my initial 60 min hops probably didn't add much bitterness, but the 1.5 oz of aroma hops probably had all their bitterness extracted, so I'm still looking at a lot more bitterness...hopefully not too much. Should I dry hop to make up for the lost flavor and aroma?

**dbrewski** · 01-26-2012, 07:18 PM

I don't know...you said you took the hops bag out, so the wort was no longer in contact with them. Having said that, you've pretty much blown out any flavor or aroma effects from the hops. But you can always dry hop and get some of that back. Put at least an ounce in a disposable mesh bag and drop it in...I usually do it in secondary so there's some alcohol in there already.

WeirdPete · 01-26-2012, 07:30 PM

Okay dry hopping in secondary sounds like a good plan. I've also been thinking about boiling some DME and adding that to the fermenter to help balance it out...would 1 gallon be a good addition?

And about the hop bags.. I've been assuming that all of the acids in the hops were already in the wort by the time I took the bags out, so it really didn't make a difference, but maybe not! I need to go pull a sample and taste it before I get all worried about this batch.

**dbrewski** · 01-26-2012, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WeirdPete

I need to go pull a sample and taste it before I get all worried about this batch.

Let it ferment out...give it three to four weeks. I can't tell you how many batches I wanted to give up for lost when I tried them at two weeks....then somehow became delicious at week 4-6! Time and patience cures a lot of stuff with beer.

**Polboy** · 01-26-2012, 07:50 PM

i think you will get different hop profile, it could be a little more bitter and very little flavor and aroma as your 15 and 0min additions were effectively changed to 60 and 45min by extra boiling time

WeirdPete · 01-26-2012, 08:25 PM

Well I pulled a hydrometer sample, had a nice 1" layer of krausen and 1.055 exactly. I tasted the sample though, and it was quite bitter. Definitely too bitter. I know the bitterness will mellow with age so I'll just not worry about it for now. But if it still tastes pretty bitter after a while, will I still be able to add some boiled dme to balance it out a bit?

**dbrewski** · 01-26-2012, 09:12 PM

I am not a big fan of doing what you suggest, but if you are going to do it, I would do it after the wort has fermented partially (has some alcohol) but before the yeast finish fermentation. And cool it beforehand and don't splash.

WeirdPete · 01-26-2012, 09:29 PM

Probably wont do it. But I will definitely be adding dry hops in secondary.